


The Bifrost Incident

by Dead_Fireflies375



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Mechanisms, Angst, Based on The Bifrost Incident, Blood Loss, Eldritch Monsters, F/F, Heavy Angst, Inspired by Octopunk Media's Detroit: Evolution Fan Film, The Mechanisms-Typical Violence, but also a rainbow space train, no beta we die like men, references to past torture, this is the most self indulgent thing i have ever written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:48:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25199548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dead_Fireflies375/pseuds/Dead_Fireflies375
Summary: The train was built to go through space and time, turning a three-month journey between realms into three days. But when the train departed for its maiden voyage, it was not seen again for another 80 years, when it appeared full of blood, a couple of skeletons, and no survivors.So what actually happened to the train? There had been three passengers on the train who all could have destroyed the train.Ada: she had once been at the forefront of the project, but had run away to join the Resistance. She had also been publicly executed for her crimes and yet she was sitting on the train, still very much alive, but with a broken and corrupted mind.Nines: second-in-command and had everything to gain in terms of status by destroying the train. Not to mention that he was vengeful, furious, and publicly declared that he would singlehandedly burn down the train.And North: current leader of the Resistance, she was on the train to stage prisonbreak and extract her own revenge. She was also Ada's wife and was unaware of the state her wife was now and that she was only a few corridors away.What happened at the Bifrost? And what is going to happen now that the train has returned?
Relationships: Ada (Detroit: Evolution)/North (Detroit: Become Human), past Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	The Bifrost Incident

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovelies!!!
> 
> This is the single most self-indulgent thing I have ever written. I have been listening to The Bifrost Incident by The Mechanisms non-stop while I work on my prompts for DEArtfest and then one night I was trying to go to bed but my mind kept going "Ada as Loki, North as Sigyn, Ada as Loki, North as Sigyn" so I decided to churn out a little piece that goes through the events of the album except with Detroit Evolution characters for fun. I didn't know where this would fit into the Artfest so I'm just having it solo for now unless one of y'all can think of a way this could fit with one of the prompts.
> 
> Now if you have no idea what the hell I'm talking about, which I suspect is most of you, The Mechanisms is this indie steampunk band created by Jonathan Sims, who also writes and stars in The Magnus Archives. The Mechanisms is a concept group where the band members pretend to be time-traveling immortal space pirates who travel to different worlds and dimensions to observe and cause a bit of a ruckus. Each of their albums follows a different storyline. The Bifrost Incident is about Norse Mythology and essentially Odin builds a train, shit goes down, Thor is angry, Loki is traumatized, and Sigyn misses her wife. So there will be an occasional reference to places like Asgard and Midgard cause of the Norse stuff.
> 
> And yeah, if you're familiar with The Mechs or TMA, then you know the kind of plots that Jonny Sims writes. If you're not, I'll just say that this won't be all sunshine and roses fyi. Keep that in mind.

The Bifrost Incident. Any schoolchild could tell you about it. It was the passion project of Elijah Kamski, a train that went straight through the stars straight through the manmade rainbow wormhole. It would take the normal three-month journey to go from the realm of Asgard to the realm of Midgard and turn into three days. Pouring decades of work and billions of resources into a project meant only to ensure a quicker way for Kamski to control both worlds at once, not many were happy with what he was doing. Every person of status was on the Bifrost, or they would risk Kamski’s displeasure. Despite the level of luxury, they were given, few of them were actually happy to be on the train, The madden genius was confident that his train would be successful on its maiden voyage and spared no expenses when it came to preparing for the journey. The possibility of failure was so low that everyone had no doubt that the train would soon emerge in the next 72 hours.

So it was quite shocking when the train didn’t emerge until 80 years later, completely empty save for a couple of skeletons and a lot of blood. Nobody knew what happened on that doomed voyage, for none of the passengers survived. However, there was one other item on that train: a small black box. The box contained the video footage of the train’s security cameras, the only lasting account of what occurred on the Bifrost. If the citizens of Midgard had gone through the video contents of the box, perhaps they may have been prepared for what soon followed the train out of the wormhole. But even if they had been prepared, it wouldn’t have made that much of a difference in the end.

You see, one thing that most people did not know about the train, including the passengers, was that there was another secret passenger on board, someone who had been believed dead by all. Ada had been a part of the Midgardian Resistance, a terrorist group that opposed Kamski’s rule of their world, for decades before her supposed death. She had been sentenced to death and publicly executed by Kamski, but for some reason, she was alive and on the train.

That reason could be easily traced down to the fact that she used to be one of the key developers of the Bifrost before she ran and joined the revolution. And when Kamski finally did get his hands back on her, well, let’s just say he’s not exactly in the business of destroying knowledge, especially if it concerns his train.

Faking her execution? Simple. Getting her to willingly lend her knowledge of the Bifrost to him? Well, that took a little more  _ persuasion _ . The woman sitting in that compartment is but a shell of the woman Ada once was. Kamski’s actions to get what he wanted from Ada drove her to the point of insanity. So she sits in her compartment, hugging her sides and shaking, as she tries to remember who she once was.

Flashes, it all comes in flashes. She knows that her memories are somewhere inside her but she can’t pin them down between the constant flashes of destruction before her eyes. Ada grasps at her mind, trying to make sense of it all. Who was she before this? Why had she been kept in this state? What is happening?

The train’s other passengers were unaware of the madden women's presence on board, but that did not last for much longer. Walking down the corridor, Ada is spotted in her compartment. And it is by none other than Nines. Nines was second in command of Asgard, set to rule when Kamski finally lost it. He and Ada had a history together. They were friends once before everything fell apart. He was not around the first time Ada and Kamski tested the Bifrost, but he was there when Ada’s missiles hit.

It had been fifteen years since Ada had run off to join the Resistance when her missiles were shot at Asgard. The first one hit the train tracks, delaying the project for another decade. The second one had been aimed at Kamski. But it had missed. Instead, it hit Gavin, Nines’ lover, killing him instantly.

Nines wasn’t the type to forgive and forget and he doesn’t seem to be taking in seeing Gavin’s killer still breathing very well. It is unclear exactly where his anger is directed: at the fact that Ada was still alive or at the fact that Kamski had driven her insane in order to finish his project. Either way, when he gets to Kamski’s compartment, he certainly isn’t in the mood for a peaceful conversation.

“I’ve had enough of your shit, Kamski,” Nines yells when he walks in, “Not only have you been depleting our resources on your stupid train, but you’ve kept Ada alive and driven her insane! She deserved to die in her right mind!”

“I could not risk losing her knowledge of the train,” Kamski cooly responds, “She was too valuable to the project to let die.”

“You sentenced her to death for murder. But I guess we all know now why you decided to hide her away instead, huh? You’re an honorless maniac. When this fails, I’m going to take over Asgard and do what you couldn’t. You’re nothing in my eyes now,” Nines sneers.

“I could not let something like honor or morals get in the way of this project. It is simply too important to let it slip away. We are standing at the brink of a new way of life, a new era of technology and power.”

“Shut up and listen to reason for once in your life. While she’s alive, you’re in danger, the train’s in danger, everything you have worked for is in danger! Either you take care of Ada, or I will.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way. These gentlemen will escort you to a private compartment,” Kamski informs him, gesturing at the two security guards by his side, “You will remain there for the rest of the journey. You’ll find your resignation letter laid out on the desk. Please feel free to sign it at your leisure.”

“Fuck you, and fuck your train! You’ll be sorry, you all will!” Nines yells but before he could do much, the guards grab him on either side and begin dragging him down the corridor to the compartment.

“You’re going to regret this, Kamski! You hear me?” Nines yells as he struggles against the guards, “I don’t care what it will take for me to get my vengeance for Gavin! I’m going to burn down this fucking train!” Nines thrashes out in apparent random anger as he kicks one of the compartment doors, smashing the lock. It was not just any compartment, but it was the one with Ada inside.

Now, at this point, all the evidence seems to be leading towards Nines being the one who was behind the failure of the train. But there is another person on board that had gone undetected by most. Working as the chief attendant on the train is North. Due to the Midgardian Resistance’s leader Markus currently serving five life sentences in the prison colony of Hel, she was the highest-ranking member of the Resistance. She is also Ada’s wife.

It would be easy to make the conclusion that she was there to rescue Ada, but upon closer inspection, one would see that Simon and Josh were among the cooks. Lucy was working at the bar. Every single member of the serving staff was a member of Markus’ old crew. Before the maiden voyage took off, Kamski had placed a Bifrost station at every planet in Yggdrasil, including Hel. They were planning a prison break, one that would hold every important official in Asgard hostage.

North passes her fellow revolutionaries throughout the train, whispering encouragements to each.

“A new world is upon us,” she whispers to the Resistance member she passes, “Just like how Ada promised me it would come. We’ve got nothing to lose but our shackles. We’ll strike tonight.” She continues on through the train, pulling another member aside, “Markus never backed down, and neither will we. We’ll control the train, take down Asgard, and free our people.”

Passing by the passenger compartments, North spots a broken lock. She touches it, suspicion on her face as the door swings inwards. Then she sees Ada, and all the hardness and misery falls away in an instant.

“Ada, oh my god,” North breathes out in wonder, “Is this a dream?" North could barely see the woman in front of her through her tears, "I saw you die. How did you- You know what? I don't care. You've come back to me, that's all that matters now."

North steps towards her wife, ready to embrace her but Ada backs away at the movement.

"Ada? What's wrong? It's me, North. I'm not going to leave you. We'll get our revenge on those bastards together."

North finally gets a good look into her wife's eyes. She sees the vacant look in Ada's eyes and she begins to understand.

"What did they do to you?" North asks, "They destroyed your mind. Ada, please, remember me. Remember your wife," North begs, cupping Ada's face.

"I don't- I don't remember," Ada whispers. Her eyes remain empty and she shows no sign of recognition.

"So they really did take you from me. After every horrible thing I've been through, they still won, didn't they?"

North steps back, realizing that she can't do anything for Ada right now.

"I'm going to make them pay for what they did to you," North promised, "I am going to destroy every single one of them. I'm not going to lose you again."

North chokes back her pain as she steps out of the room. She wipes away the tears in her eyes and she decides what she must do. 

Nines' loud promise of vengeance against Kamski and destroying the train had been heard by many, including North. It was a risky option. She knew what kind of anger he harbored for her wife, but if anyone could help her destroy the train, it would be him.

It wasn't hard to find the compartment that Kamski had locked Nines in. She had memorized the train's layout weeks ago and there were only so many compartments that lock from the outside. Picking the lock was also easy for her. What would be hard for her would be to convince Nines to work with the wife of the woman who had unintentionally killed his lover.

Opening the door, she sees him. He had been tirelessly pacing the room, obviously trying to plan his vengeance. He stops when he lays eyes on her.

"North?" he says, not sure what to make of the woman's appearance at his door.

"I'm going to destroy this train," North informs him, "I need access to the engine room."

Nines nods solemnly, clearly thinking about what she was saying.

"You know about Ada?" he finally asks.

"Yes. That's why I have to make them suffer. She can't even recognize me anymore."

He pauses. "I still wish that she had died back then, but what Kamski did to her? That's worse," he sighs, "I will get you into the engine room. This train needs to be destroyed."

As Nines and North make their way to the engine room, they might have noticed that Ada had wandered out of her room, but they don't see her. She wanders the hallways of the train, aimless, as the passengers stare at her in shock. It was not long until one of the guards found her and began dragging her down the corridor, straight to Kamski's room.

Nines and North approach the front of the engine room. Nines knew the code to get in, but he didn't know what lay on the other side of the door. Neither of them did. Perhaps if they did, it would have lessened the shock at what they saw. There was no engine in the engine room. Instead, Lazzo, a low ranking member of the Midgardian Resistance, lay upon a silver altar. But that wasn't important. What was important were the dozens of tubes and wires connected to his veins, pumping out his blood to run through the ancient runes, and gears, and blood chambers that line the room's walls. Dozens of levers and buttons cover the room. The metal is the same as that on the track and it hums with a distinct rhythm, almost like it was a chant. Nines and North stare in mute horror. Breaking from their moment of paralysis, North rushes to Lazzo while Nines begins messing with the levers. North unplugs Lazzo and he begins bleeding out into the room while the runes and chambers begin to empty of blood. Messing with the levers causes the shapes of the runes to twist and change until suddenly it stops. Whether it was unplugging Lazzo or messing with the levers, neither of them know. But something has gone very very wrong.

The humming sound increases, growing louder and louder. And then Nines and North hear the distinct voice of the Void begin to chant: “Y'AI 'NG'NGAH, YOG-SOTHOTH H'EE-L'GEB F'AI THRODOG UAAAH OGTHROD AI'F GEB'L-EE'H YOG-SOTHOTH 'NGAH'NG AI'Y ZHRO.”It repeats over and over again, growing louder and louder. And then suddenly, everything begins to change.

The walls begin to tear. Not the walls of the train, but those of a false and hollow reality, twisting in its thrall to Yog Sothoth, the key and the gate through whose cascading rainbow being the train has passed. Yog Sothoth who is the Bifrost, and whose dread invocation now shattered, drags them towards the roiling nuclear chaos of the mad daemon sultan at the center of reality. A billion screaming squamous things approach, oozing, and crawling through the shattered tatters of a sane world. All the doors are open now.

Nines and North stare in horror as Lazzo’s body immediately begins spasming and his body runs dry. The walls bleed out and the protections that had once been keeping the horrors from the train fall. The train was now under siege by eldritch forces that neither Nines nor North could even begin to comprehend. They could already begin to hear the screams of the train’s passengers descend into chaos and madness.

“I know him,” North quietly says, still looking at Lazzo’s crumpled body, “Why is here? He was hiding out in Midgard. How- how could this happen?”

Nines closes his fist, anger seething out of him. “Kamski, what have you done?” he mutters, “He must pay.”

North collapses to her knees, her mind overrun with despair. Nines turns on his heels, marching down to Kamski’s compartment, ready to get his revenge.

As the train descends into chaos at the hands of incomprehensible beings, killing passengers left and right, Kamski watches from the observation window, Ada behind him. Ada stares in terror. Her mind was finally clear, for the first time in years. She remembers everything now.

“Kamski, what is this? What have you done?” 

“I didn’t think it would actually work,” Kamski admits, “I thought the dreams I had were just a fantasy. And to think, I originally thought that the purpose of this train was to expand my conquest.”

“This is not what we had been planning back then,” Ada insists, “We didn’t understand what we were doing, but I tried to stop it. I failed. And now there’s no more protection for us. We’ve been derailed.”

“Ha! You could not have stopped the wheels of destiny. You say that we’re derailed, and yet we are finally going down the right path. You heard the same call I did, but you couldn’t handle it. Nothing you could have done would have prevented this. It was inevitable. This is our destiny.”

Ada backs up in horror. There was no reasoning with Kamski, there hadn’t been since his obsession with the train took over him. She leaves the room, going to find North. No matter what happens, at least they can die together. 

Nines, from the opposite end of the train, begins the journey to Kamski’s room. Both he and Ada are faced with a wall of claws and teeth and monstrous things from the space between realities standing between them and their destination. The walls were lit by the rainbow glow of the Key and the Gate through which the train still passes. They steel themselves and advance.

There is a brief respite from the chaos of the train that they find in an empty carriage. They meet each other’s eyes from across the warped remains that litter the floor. Ada recognizes the man in front of her. She approaches him and touches his shoulder.

“Nines? Don’t I know you?” she asks, “Weren’t we friends?”

“Once, we were. And I guess, we are right now, at the end of it all.”

“Where are you going?”

“For vengeance. You?”

“For love.”

Nines clamps his hand down on her shoulder. “Die in peace.”

“Die in honor.”

The two then continue walking their respective paths, both hoping that perhaps, that’s enough.

Nines continues to make his way to Kamski’s compartment, tearing through the hordes of creatures in his way with a hammer he had picked up along the way. He is covered in gore and blood but filled with more determination than ever. He kicks down the door to Kamski’s room.

Behind it, what was once Kamski laughs. His entire body had been transformed into something else entirely by the touch of the gods he had unknowingly served for so long. His eyes were now vast and staring deep within Nines’ heart. Nines stood in horror.

“What the hell have you done?”

“I gave our people apotheosis. A final completion. We’ve now all been touched by those who see us as less than nothing. This is how things should be.”

“You planned all of this? You fucking knew that this would happen!”

“At first, no. I could have never imagined where my project would lead me. But here we are, at the beginning of a new era. When the train reaches Midgard, our new gods will follow and share their gift with all.”

“This is insanity!”

“Sanity now longer has meaning here. Learn to embrace it. Yog Sothoth beckons us hence. I first heard him so many years ago when I first laid down the track. Now, he is here and I shall be the last and final ruler of all people. No one will survive my reign.”

“No,” Nines growls, readying his hammer.

“Killing me won’t save the world. Nor will it bring him back.”

“I don’t care.”

This was not a fight that Nines could win. He knew that. He was bloodied and injured and Kamski was barely a human anymore. He steps up to the glass wall of the observation deck. There is no escape from this room. But any window with a hammer is also an emergency exit. Destroying the glass, both he and Kamski are pulled out of the train and are claimed by the stars who destroy them. In the moments between the glass shattering and the end, Nines smiles for the first time in years as he waits to be reunited with his love, knowing he got the revenge he sought.

Meanwhile, Ada makes the final leg of her journey to her wife. The creatures keep their distance from her as they recognize her as someone touched by the outer gods. Ada pushes the door of the engine room to see her wife kneeling on the blood-soaked floor. Before North could say anything, Ada embraces her. The two hold each other close, finally together again after years of being apart, now at the end of all things. Both of their faces are soaked in tears, as they both find comfort in the embrace.

“I know what we have to do,” Ada finally says, “We can’t stop the train from reaching Midgard. These creatures will descend upon our world and destroy it. But we can slow it down. We have to keep the train on the track as long as possible and we can do it together.” Ada wipes the tears from her wife’s eyes and cups her face. “We’ve had such little time together. But now, nothing will be able to break us apart. I won’t forget you again.”

“I’m not going to leave you,” North replies, “I’m never going to leave you again.”

They uncouple the other carriages behind them. Ada sits upon the altar and North pushes one of the lines into her wife’s heart, holding it tight. She only lets a drip at a time of Ada’s blood flow through the runes and chambers. Through the pain, Ada kisses North. From now until the end, they are together.

“Goodbye my love, but don’t shed any tears,” North whispers as she continues to hold the line tight.

Ada strokes her wife’s hair. “Everything we have done throughout our lives and lead us to this point.”

“I will stay by your side.”

“I will hold on through.”

North presses their foreheads together.

“This time, we will always be together.”

When Ada runs dry of blood, the train will arrive in Midgard. All the eldritch forces that have been summoned will be released upon the world and all will descend into chaos and terror. But for now, the world was safe. And for now, Ada and North are together. And together they will remain so until the end of their days.

**Author's Note:**

> This now holds my record for the quickest I have ever written, published, and completed a fanfiction which is kinda sexy of me. (also somehow the only one I've written with a main lesbian couple which I definitely want to write more of)
> 
> Sorry if it was too sad but you know it's not too bad when you think about it. Nines is reunited with Gavin and Ada and North live the last decades of their lives together and push back the end of the world.
> 
> If you liked this, please listen to The Mechanisms. I literally cannot recommend this album enough. If you don't have time for the whole thing and just want to hear the lesbian songs on it, listen to Sigyn and Ragnorak V: The End of the Line. If you just want to hear the eldritch monster summoning, listen to Red Signal. If you want existential fear, listen to Red Signal and then Terminus.
> 
> Yell at me on Tumblr @chaotic-bi-incarnate. Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!!! I realize how niche this fic is but if any of y'all happen to be Mechs fans too hit me up lmao
> 
> Stay healthy y'all, stay safe, and don't forget to hydrate


End file.
